At CHUG, there is also a bike parking area that protects two-wheelers from rain while they wait for the next ride.

CHUG, which stands for “Canals in Hackney Users’ Group”, is a charity and a community of boaters who live in Kingsland Basin, in Hackney’s central London. This community has around 14 boats, but there are over 15,000 people living afloat in Great Britain. They use canal narrow boats as homes to navigate the, which were originally built for transporting bulk of raw materials and fuel up and down the country’s long narrow man-made canals. CHUG began in 1983 as an association of local people whose aim was to promote the use of the Hackney’s canal for the benefit of everyone living in the area, while promoting environmental, educational and planning issues as their main objectives.

There is a dedicated boat holding a luscious floating allotment that gives an abundance of fruits and vegetables ranging from spinach, lettuce, rocket, countless herbs, onions, potatoes, aubergines, tomatoes, beans, asparagus and even artichokes — all which the community shares. But with five huge noisy developments currently underway in the canal, the allotment boat is pretty important not only as a floating food resource, but in bringing local wildlife back into the area. At CHUG, there is also a bicycle parking area that protects the two-wheelers from rain while they wait for the next ride.

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2 Comments

Really!? is a really nice area and the very long canal path is SO gorgeous!

jillNovember 4, 2011 at 9:59 pm

LOVE this post Ana Lisa – thanks for covering this! I used to live near the Hackney Canal and Kingsland Basin and I was always so fascinated by the houseboat communities and wanted to learn more about them. AWESOME!